I have bought a black bear skin for a full body mount that was wet tanned. Is there anything else that has to be done to it to mount it? The lady that I bought it from said that it was ready to mount but it looks like it is dried out to me. This is the first hide that I have bought that was wet tanned and I just wanted to make sure that I did not have to do anything else to it before I mount it. The term wet tanned may be misleading me but I thought that it would be damp or wet feeling. Any advise will help and thanks.
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Wet tanned ( in a liquid tanning solution ) as
opposed to dry-preserved ( dry tanning ).
Your bear is ready to mount after it has been
relaxed ( softend ) in a brine solution consisting of
1lb. of salt per 3gl. of water.
Wet Tan usually refrs to a tan that is not dried out and tumbled. Once the oil is applied it is packaged up and sent. Dry tan can mean one of two things 1) it was tanned, oiled and then dried and tumbled or 2) dry preservative which really is not a tan at all.
Dave
Take a sharp scapel blade and thin around the eyes, nose and lip areas
to minimize shrinkage and movement of the skin while drying...that one
little step can and will make a huge difference in the quality of your
mounts...if your hide is dried I`d rehydrate it and let it sweat
overnight before mounting...